If someone asked me to tell them about some of the dumbest films I've ever seen, I would most likely think of "Revenge of the Red Baron". It's one of the worst written and inane films I've ever seen and is a sad waste of talent.
The premise of the movie is historically inaccurate. While the actual Red Baron was shot down by a combination of ground fire from Australian troops as well as a Canadian pilot (Roy Brown) chasing him, the movie has you think that Grandpa Spencer (Mickey Rooney) was the man responsible. Most viewers wouldn't know this...but too many would know the premise is completely wrong and it would take them out of the movie. Also, how could Grandpa have been in WWI when he would have to be in his mid-90s when the film was made...and Rooney wasn't young but he certainly wasn't 90 (he was actually 74).
Here's the insane plot. Grandpa Spenser is obsessed with the Baron. His grandson (Tobey McGuire) loves the old man but the boy's father is a real angry jerk. After dad inexplicably tries to destroy Grandpa's radio controlled WWI plans,, the Red Baron, of sorts, comes back from the dead due to lightning to kill Grandpa's family. Oh, did I mention that this Baron is a puppet who flies one of Grandpa's planes?! The puppet is creepy....but also incredibly stupid. I mean REALLY stupid.
What we have here is a totally wrong-headed film that tries to be a horror film but only succeeds in being a horrible film. It's not too surprising Rooney made the movie, as later in his career he would appear in anything...provided the check cleared. As for Tobey McGuire, well, fortunately few people saw or remembered this film from very early in his career...otherwise he wouldn't have been cast in anything!
Overall, a very cheap and terrible film. Beginning with the appallingly bad opening titles to the finish...it's just amazingly awful! It's so strange, so bad and so wrong-headed, you might be like me and are unable to stop watching!
